FRUITHURST, Ala. -- The huge hog that became known as "Monster Pig" after being hunted and killed by an 11-year-old boy had another name: Fred. The not-so-wild pig had been raised on an Alabama farm and was sold to the Lost Creek Plantation just four days before it was shot there in a 150-acre fenced area, the animal's former owner said.So Lost Creek Plantation is like one of those places where people go to hunt buffalo, where they goad farm-raised animals into running the length of a narrow enclosure and "sportsmen" blast away at them from close range.

Sweet home Alabama, where you buy your wife a pig for her birthday, or signal your boy's passage into man-hood by handing him a .50 calibre pistol and telling him to go kill hisself that same tame hog, which has been reclassified as "feral" upon its release at the "hunting preserve" so you or your boy won't feel twinges of self-conscious embarrassment.

Particularly galling is the fact that PhilBisset, the pig's original owner only stepped forward with the true story when he heard reports that photographs of old Fred had been doctored to make him appear larger.

That was a big hog," said [Mr. Bisset].Sir, you failed that pig! You should be ashamed of yourself.

Since you agree it was not "hunting", then how does it prove handguns are a legitimate hunting weapon? If all I had to do was chase a pig around a fenced enclosure, then i'm sure a handgun would be good enough for the job of killing it. If the pig had been chained down, I'm sure he could have bludgeoned it with a 2-by-4, but that isn't a hunting weapon either, it it?

And yes it was a tame pig. It was someone's birthday present. 4 days earlier it had been lying in its favorite slop pile on someone's farm.

Because I know people personally who do hunt with handguns. Deer, antelope, rabbits, varmints, grouse, etc. It's a close-range gun to be sure, but a bullet is a bullet. Doesn't matter what it came out of. Do a google of 'handgun hunting' and you'll be swamped with sites.

Oh for Christ's sake Gayle, take the team to the soccer game already!!!! Don't pipe up on a topic of which you're completely ignorant. Mindlessly repeating the stupid mantra of the gun control crowd doesn't count as an argument. The police have handguns - do they go around killing people with them? More people are killed in Canada by knives than handguns, and would you say knives were designed to kill people? Handguns were designed to be compact and shoot a bullet, period. They are ideally suited for self defense purposes, but can do other things as well.

That's why police and bodyguards and soldiers and security guards and homeowners use them, for protection. And surprisingly, because they do shoot bullets like a hunting rifle, you can also hunt with them (or shoot paper targets, like in the Olympics). They weigh about a third or less than a rifle, are far more compact, are faster to access when in bear/cougar country, and provides a greater shooting challenge to the hunter. Believe it or not Gayle, some hunters are very good, and look for ways to increase the hunting challenge. A handgun is very difficult to shoot accurately, especially at rifle-hunting range. Which means the hunter has to get much, much closer to the animal than he would were he carrying a rifle.

If it were me, and I were out to shoot a 1,000 lb hog, I'd have used a rifle. Maybe one of those Marlin 444 big bore levers, or something in .45/70. A .338 Win Mag would be deadly on it, but hell for recoil. Old school might be the way to go - a vintage 215 grain CIL Round Nose in .303 Br out of my Pattern 14 Enfield. Should hit it like a freight train. I'd use a rifle because the only pistol I have is a 9mm. And guess what? I haven't killed anybody with it. But I'd certainly like the choice (see, I'm pro-choice!) to be able to use a small handgun for rabbits or grouse or varmints.

"Handguns were designed to kill people. The mere fact that some people decide to use them to kill animals does not change that fact."

Let's do a reality check. Even though knives aren't "designed to kill people", they are used about equally by murderers as guns. Do we talk about knife culture, the glorifying of knives, knife collectors being the problem, banning knives, hold candle light vigils against knife murders, enact laws to register long knives or small knives, etc. You get the picture.

Because you have no idea how many Canadians own and use guns on a regular basis without harming anybody, you form an opinion based solely on the negative reporting in the MSM. This is what is called, 'forming an opinion based on ignorance of the subject'. Will you ever see headlines that say "10 million Canadian gunowners harmed no one today." Of course not. How about "Cdn Ammunition Sales Top 25 Million Rounds/Year". It's still surprising how little news coverage our Olympic and other competitive shooters receive when they win provinciail, national, and international titles.

But that's only because the MSM has a bias against guns. So you only see guns in the news when used by a bad guy.